


Steps Taken Forwards

by Phelpshobbit



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 04:39:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1496980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phelpshobbit/pseuds/Phelpshobbit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They had been living in London for a month now. Most of their time had passed doing work (and in Kili's case, also studying), unpacking their stuff trying to get them into some sort of an order in their new flat and some more work. They both felt exhausted, so now that they both had a whole weekend free for the first time after moving to London, they had decided to get the most out of it.<br/>Everything doesn't always go according to the plan, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steps Taken Forwards

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This fic is insipred by the episodes 5x15 of Glee and 1x22 of Queer as Folk (US). I don't own the characters, they're originally invented by J.R.R. Tolkien - however, I've changed the to fit in the modern setting. Title is from Pink Floyd's song High Hopes. Enjoy!

It was a Saturday night and Fili and Kili were planning to get drunk.

  
They had been living in London for a month now. Most of their time had passed doing work (and in Kili's case, also studying), unpacking their stuff trying to get them into some sort of an order in their new flat and some more work. They both felt exhausted, so now that they both had a whole weekend free for the first time after moving to London, they had decided to get the most out of it.

  
They walked down a road they'd never walked on before; before they had moved there, they had only visited London for a couple of times, which really wasn't enough to get to properly know such a big city. Now that they had time, they had decided to go someplace they had never been to before and try to get to know the city. So, now they were walking down some random road, having decided they'd go to the first bar that they'd come across with.

  
That's when Kili saw something. On the ground around the base of a street lamp there was tons of flowers, candles, cards and some soft toys, and as they walked closer, he saw a photo of a young man, framed and perched up to lean against the pole.

  
Kili grabbed his brother's sleeve to make him stop; then he studied the stuff lying on the ground a bit closer, trying to see if somewhere there was a note of what it all was for, but he didn't find any.

  
”What do you think this all is for? Who is that guy?” he wondered.

  
Fili shrugged, his eyebrows furrowed. ”I don't know. Looks like some sort of a memorial to me?”

  
That's when someone stopped right next to them and talked.

  
”That's Oliver.”

  
Fili and Kili turned to look at her with raised eyebrows.

  
”You know the guy?” Fili asked, nodding towards the framed picture on the ground. The girl shrugged with a sigh.

  
”Sort of,” she said, ”He was just a friend of a friend. He got bashed, the poor guy, some weeks ago. With a baseball bat, no less. He was in a coma until a few days ago – he just died, three days ago.”

  
”Really?” Kili said, turning to look from the girl at the photo and back to the girl. ”What did he get bashed for, do you know?”

  
”No one knows for sure – they haven't caught the assaulters yet. But it was probably because he was gay... I mean, from what I have heard, he wasn't really quiet about it.”

  
Both boys just stared at her for a while until Fili finally opened is mouth.

  
”That's ridiculous.”

  
”Yeah, I know,” the girl said, ”Poor guy was only twenty, his boyfriend is devastated. Anyway, I should go...” The girl pulled the hood of her jacket over her head and started to leave but stopped and turned around to face the brothers again. ”Take care of each other,” she said, and then she was gone.

  
~*~

  
”You're still thinking about that guy, aren't you?”

  
Kili looked up from his hands to his brother, who returned to their table with two pints of beer in his hands. Kili sighed and scratched his neck, then grabbing the pint that Fili put down on the table in front of him.

  
”Yeah,” he admited. ”It keeps coming back into my mind.”

  
”Kili, you didn't even know him.”

  
”Yeah, I know. It's just.. Well, think about it. It's ridiculous. This is England, people should be more accepting here, I mean, gay people can get married here and still stuff like that happens.”

  
Fili hummed and took a sip of his beer. ”Yeah, I know, it's mad. Just when you think things are getting better, stuff like that happens. But there's nothing you can do about it – there will always be bad people, no matter what you do.”

  
”Mmh.” Kili bowed his head and played with the ring on his finger. He didn't even know why the subject upset him so much. Like Fili had said, he hadn't even known that guy. He felt like he could somehow relate to him, though. He wasn't exactly ashamed of himself, but he did always make sure that no one knew both of the facts than Fili was not only his brother, but his lover as well. If he said he wasn't afraid of what people could do to him if they found out, he would be lying.

  
”Hey,” Fili said, moving his hand along the table so that he could grab Kili's to stop their fidgeting. ”It's not like something like that is going to happen to you, not while I'm around.”

  
Sometimes Kili wondered how Fili could always know what he was thinking.

  
”What about you though?”

  
”Me? Ridiculous. You really think someone could beat me up? Nonsense. I'm too big and scary for that.”

  
Kili laughed. It was true, in a way. While Fili wasn't much taller than Kili, Kili was much leaner and Fili was thicker with muscles - and while Fili was one of the kindest people on Earth that Kili had ever known, he could look rather intimidating when needed. Although, there still were much thicker and taller and more scary people than Fili was.

  
”Anyway,” Fili continued. ”We should cheer up. It's our first night out in ages, we should be having fun.”

  
Kili rolled his eyes. ”Cheer up, not in this place, it's the most depressing bar I've ever been to,” he said, nodding towards the other tables. At the exact moment they'd stepped into the bar he had realised it was a dull place – the decoration was poor, the music consisted of boring, old songs and the other customers... Well, the youngest one in addition to Fili and Kili themselves seemed to be at least forty, most of them were big and tattooed and a couple with big beer bellies, and quite a lot of them kept throwing mean glances at the two of them. Kili wasn't sure why they hadn't left immediately.

  
”You're right,” Fili admitted, making a quick glance at the bar. ”How about we finish our drinks and then go find some other place?”

  
”Sounds like a plan.”

  
They finished their drinks quickly and got up to leave. Fili explained he'd still need to visit the toilet before leaving and Kili told him he'd wait outside.

  
Kili stood beside the door outside the bar, smoking a cigarette, when he heard some noises.

  
He raised his head and listened, and soon he heard another noise; a paniced scream, someone yelling for help, some other people yelling angrily and laughing. He frowned and dumped the cigarette on the bottom of his boot and jogged towards the direction he heard the noises coming from. He came to a dark alley, where he noticed two big guys beating and kicking someone who was curled up on the ground, shielding his head with his arms.

  
He knew that interfering might not be clever, but he reacted on an instinct.

  
”Hey!” he shouted, speeding up his pace to reach the guys. The men ignored him and continued kicking the small, whimpering guy on the ground (the boy must've been even younger than Kili), until Kili grabbed the other man's shoulder and spun him around.

  
”What the fuck do you think you're doing!?”

  
The man he'd grabbed only laughed, turning his head to his friend and nodded towards Kili.

  
”Look, there's two of them now.”

  
That's when Kili glenched is hand in a fist and aimed a good blow on the man's face.

  
The man fell on the ground by the force of the punch. Kili was just about to attack the man again when his friend realised what was happening and grabbed him by his jacked and threw him at the wall. He groaned in pain when his back hit the wall but didn't let it distract himself too much, so when the man came at him again, he ducked and buried his fist in the man's stomach.

  
By that time the man he'd first punced had recovered from his shock and gotten up, and he grabbed the collar of Kili's jacket and lifted him up against the wall.  
”That wasn't very nice, was it?! You little faggots, you think you can do whatever you want - ”

  
Kili bit his lip and kicked the air in despair, hoping to hit something, and managed to kick the man right between his legs with his knee. The man cried and dropped him on the ground. Kili tried to get up but received a strong kick in his ribs, and he cried out in pain and rolled on his back. The other one of the men straddled him – he didn't even have time to see which one before he got punched in his face – and he realised he was hopelessly disadvantaged against the two bullies, and he was scared. He couldn't see the boy they had been beating up when he had arrived but he hoped he'd taken his chance and ran away. He received another punch on his mouth and tasted blood on his tongue. He heard someone yelling his name; then he got another hit and he blacked out.

  
~*~

  
When Kili woke up, the first thing he heard was steady beeping, and the first thing he felt was someone holding his hand.

  
He slowly opened his eyes and looked at his environment; white and blue walls, white curtains, white ceiling... Loads of white. He realised he was probably in a hospital. That made sense, he did remember what had happened before he went unconscious. It had been night when it had happened, but now the white and blue walls were painted with yellow light from the windows, and it was bright in the room even though the lights on the ceiling weren't on.

  
He looked down and saw his brother holding his hand between his own, his mouth pressed against Kili's thumb as he stared out of the window, obviously in his own thoughts.  
”Hey,” he whispered with a hoarse voice.

  
Fili turned to look at him and inhaled a shuddering breath, a small smile spreading on his lips, although it did not quite reach his eyes.

  
”Hey,” he whispered back, pressing a small kiss on Kili's hand. ”Did you sleep well?”

  
”Like a baby.”

  
”Good. You needed that. You've been given quite a lot of morphine, I think.”

  
Kili just hummed, closing his eyes again for a while.

  
”How are you feeling?” he heard Fili ask him.

  
Kili stayed silent and thought about it for a while, then clearing his throat. ”A little dizzy. And tired. What day is it anyway?”

  
”It's only Sunday morning, you were only gone for the night.”

  
”What happened?”

  
”...You were in a fight.”

  
”Yeah, I remember that much. But what happened to me? Have I broken something?” He opened his eyes again and looked at Fili.

  
Fili sighed, caressing the back of his little brother's palm with his thumb. ”Hairline fractures on your left eye socket and a rib, some cuts and bruises. The one on your side is particularly nasty. But you'll be okay.”

  
Kili raised his eyebrows, slightly amused. ”Did you take a peek under my shirt while I was unconscious?”

  
Fili rolled his eyes but did not answer.

  
”...So,” Kili started after a long moment of silence, ”have you called mom yet?”

  
”Yeah. First I thought of not calling her because she'd only get worried, but then I thought about how angry she'd get if she'd later get to know about the accident and we hadn't told her,” Fili replied, with a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. ”I told her you'll be okay, though, so she'll only get here after she's finished with work. I called uncle Thorin, too, he should be here in a couple of hours.”

  
Kili sighed. ”I won't be home for a while then, will I?”

  
”Maybe later this evening, the doctor wants to keep you here for a little while longer. To check you don't have concussion or whatever, I don't really know. I stopped listening after he told me you'll be fine.”

  
Now that Kili was starting to wake up properly, he could take a closer look at hs brother's face. There was a small bruise on Fili's cheek, he looked worried and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Kili wasn't sure if that was only for the lack of sleep.

  
Fili took Kili's hand back between his own hands, pressing another kiss on the wrist.

  
”So, what happened exactly?” he asked. Kili stared at him for a moment, blinking stupidly.

  
”...You mean, how did I end up in a fight?”

  
”Yes. They attacked you first, didn't they?”

  
”No, Fili, they didn't.” When Fili frowned and just stared at him, he sighed and went on. ”I was waiting for you by the pub when I heard someone calling for help. I found those two guys assaulting some poor guy and there was no one else to help, so I had to.”

  
Fili bit his lip and let go of Kili's hand, leaning back on his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  
”Kili, please... That was really stupid.”

  
Kili scoffed, not turning his gaze away from his big brother.

  
”Was it, though?” he pressed on. ”Should I have just let them beat up the poor guy? Maybe even let them kill him? I couldn't do that, just watch, I had to do something. You would've done the same, I know you would.”

  
”Yes, I would have, but Kili -”

  
”Fili. I'm pretty sure those were the same men that killed that one guy. They would have killed the guy yesterday too if I hadn't helped him.”

  
”Yes. Kili, I know they were them, that's why this is bad. They've once proved they're capable of killing, and then you go and - ” Fili stopped his sentence, breathing in and out deep for a few times before continuing. ”You could have been killed yourself. They could have had guns.”

  
Kili reached out for Fili's hand, and after a moment he took it, if a bit reluctantly.

  
”I'm not ashamed of what I did. Hell, I'm proud. I've maybe just saved someone's life.” He tried to catch Fili's eyes, but the older one looked away stubbornly. ”Did you see him, by the way?”

  
”No,” Fili answered after clearing his throat. ”He must have ran away before I arrived.”

  
Kili smiled. ”Then I succeeded. What happened after I blacked out?”

  
Fili bowed his head.

  
”I got there just to see you getting beaten... I pushed that guy off you and punched him – and got punched in return -” at that point Fili pointed at his bruised cheek, ”- some other guys, I don't know who they were, had heard the fighting and came to help, so when those two realised they were outnumbered, they jumped in their car and drove off.”

  
”Wait but – that's brilliant, isn't it? Now there are many who witnessed what happened, many who saw what the men looked like. They have a chance to catch them now, get them into jail.”

  
Fili hummed his agreement, still looking at his own knees rather than at his brother. ”Still. I admit it was a good thing you did, Kili, but... Next time wait for me, okay? We'll take them out together.”

  
Kili heard the wavering in his voice when he talked, and he sighed deep, tugging at his brother's hand. ”Fili... Just... Come here.”

  
Fili finally looked at his younger brother and bit his lip. He moved his chair closer to the bed and then laid his head on Kili's chest, the fingers on their right hands still entwined, Kili's free hand moving to stroke his lover's hair.

  
”Are you okay?” Kili asked softly.

  
”Bit shaken still. I know you're okay now, but when I found you unconscious on the ground... After hearing the story about that other guy. I feared the same thing had happened to you, that you'd fall into coma and then – That scared me, Kili, that really scared me.”

  
”I know, babe, I know.”

  
”Do you remember what I told you in that bar? I said nothing could hurt you when I'm around. But I wasn't around when you needed me.”

  
”It's not your fault, Fili,” Kili said, sighing. He carded his fingers through the blond hair, then wrapping his arm tightly around Fili's shoulders. ”I'm sorry I worried you. I love you.”

  
Fili raised his head and looked at him with a sad smile, pressing a hand on his cheek, leaning in for a kiss. It was a short kiss but affectionate, and afterwards Fili pressed his forehead against Kili's. They both closed their eyes, just enjoying each other's presence, breathing the same air. It was a thing they had; whenever they were feeling sad or upset, they'd calm just by being close to each other.

  
”Love you too,” Fili whispered against Kili's lips. ”Will you promise not to do something like that again, though? I'd hate to lose you.”

  
Kili smiled. ”Yeah, okay. Now, where's my breakfast?”

  
Fili laughed and pressed another kiss on Kili's forehead. ”I'll go and find a nurse, tell them you've woken up.”

  
He got up and turned to leave, but Kili's voice stopped him.

  
”I'll wait for you next time.”

  
Fili smiled.

  
”I'll be right back.”


End file.
